Morocco here we come!

My goodness, I haven’t posted for years...wonder what I’ve been doing or where I’ve been.
This Sunday, Leena,  Nancy  and I are off to Morocco on an Overseas Adventure Travel tour.  We’ve got a non-stop flight from JFK to Casablanca.  Both ways!  Of course, we have to get to JFK and that’s no picnic, but perhaps OK Sunday afternoon?  I doubt it.

We arrive in Casablanca and are immediately bused 90 minutes to Rabat, one of Morocco’s ancient imperial city and its capital since 1913.  It’s on the Atlantic coast and has gardens and museums and, of course, a kasbah.  We are in Hotel le Diwan-Mgallery which looks the simplest of the accommodations we’ll have and only gets a 3.5 on TripAdvisor!  We’ll struggle through.

Then off to Fez (Fes) for 3 nights, Erfoud for one night on our way to the Sahara desert camp for two nights (tents and stars, we hope), then Quarzazate where lots of movies are shot for 2 nights, before back to city life in Marrakech for 3 nights, and then 1 night in Casablanca before we hop back on the plane home.

You see the activity level on this trip is 2, moderately easy with 7 locations in 15 days with two 1-night stays.  I think that means a lot of time traveling between places, so we’ll see lots of landscapes.  

Come traveling with us!

82 degrees Monday, snow this morning

Good Wednesday morning to you.

The storm left a frozen city in its wake.

Windshields are crusted in ice. Some roads are treacherous.

It’s 32 degrees, but with the wind chill it feels like 20.

A freeze warning is in effect, there have been many car crashes, and two lanes of the Belt Parkway are closed in Brooklyn because of ice.

Pity the garden plants with the audacity to bloom in April.

(New York Times, 4/16/2014)

 

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China Here We Come

Nancy and I are off on another Road Scholar adventure...this time to China.  That should be a bit more interesting than repairing the overhang in Fillmore. Here's a brief overview:

Arrival Beijing (China), 4 nights; flight to Luoyang, 2 nights; train to Xi’an, 3 nights; flight to Lhasa (Tibet), 4 nights; flight to Chongqing; Yangtze River study cruise, 3 nights; disembark in Yichang, flight to Shanghai, 3 nights; departure.  

 

 

Our accomodations are listed over there in the sidebar.

We're really lucky that we have a non-stop flight from Newark 

Thurs, April 24, United Airlines 89, leaving Newark at 11:55 a.m. and arriving in Beijing at 1:45 p.m., but that's on April 25!  Beijing (and all of China is 12 hours ahead of NYC, and 15 ahead of LA).  The flight is some 14 hours long.

Returning on United 87 from Shanghai on Weds, May 14, leaving Shanghai at 3:55 p.m. and arriving Newark at 6:30 p.m.  the same day.  That flight is some 14 and a half hours long although I would rather think it was the 2 and a half it is if you do simple math.

You can check the Road Scholar site for lots more information if you want to get ahead of us.

Overhang repairs

Once again, I've forgotten to take the before pictures. So I hope you remember how the top coat on the overhang was hanging down in front of the living room and the holes.

Next in process?..first wetting and removing the top coat...

then patching holes

Lots of spackling and plastering (needless to say I'm not in construction

 

Then priming and painting .......and the results

 

 

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Alps Arrival Sept. 13, 2013. Walking Below and Around Mont Blanc

Sept 11

Who would think I'd complain that a flight was not long enough. But, it's true, the 7 hours from JFK to Geneva were not long enough for a meal, and what passes for a night's sleep in the air.

So, we will arrive, sleep deprived, in Switzerland at 9 am. At 8 we've already had a brief breakfast and our first piece of Swiss chocolate.

Swiss International flight 23 has been uneventful and cabin crew very pleasant, although the seemingly random use of French, German and English is a bit disconcerting and keeps me guessing which language will be used next.

Landed about 9 am and meet most of the others in the group and our tour leader, Pedrojuan. By 10:30 am 16 of us had arrived and our little coach (bus) started the one and a half hour trip to Villars. We traveled along Lake Geneva to Montreux and then started up into the mountains. A lot of the same area we saw when Cathy, Fdo and I went to Lausanne. Lots of terraced vineyards, very green, cute villages along the hill sides, shopping malls, light industry a few small cities, and lots of netted apple orchards, something I don't remember.

The weather is inclement, cloudy and cool, and Pedrojuan says we are in for some rain.

Now we are in our spacious room in the Eurotel Victoria in the ski resort town of Villars. Very, very jet lagged, altho we just took a nap. At 6:30 pm we meet for orientation, and then dinner and to meet the remaining 4 who got here on their own.

All is well, just pray to the weather gods for a little, OK a lot, of sun.

Love, Penny

 

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Long Time No Posts

It's been too long between posts, but I am trying to reform.  Lots of travel has happened in the interim.  The retirement trip to Slovenia and Italy with Leena was wonderful.  So was my trip to the Galapagos with her.  I really enjoyed the Road Scholar trip to Costa Rica, and the OAT exploration of Turkey with Nancy.  The Outer Banks week with the Chaparro family was wonderful.  And I've spent a fair amount of time in Southern California with Mother.  And don't forget the Chicago to Upper Penninsula Road trip with Leena.  So there are lots of photos missing, as you can guess.  You can catch yourself up with my photo stream on Picassa

This afternoon I start another Road Scholar (aka Elderhostel) trip to the Alps with Nancy.  This time it's not just Switzerland, but a bit of Italy and France as well.  Walking Below and Beyond Mont Blanc.

One thing is for certain, though.  Since I bought my LL Bean duffle, I've forgotten how to pack light.  My sister, Susan, puts me to shame here. 

Leena's Big Retirement Trip with Penny

Stay tuned for a new adventure.  Leena is retiring Friday (that's today) and without skipping a beat she wants to travel.  She's lined up buddy passes on Delta from a work colleague's wife and she and I will be at JFK on Sunday at 5:15 p.m. hoping we will get on our flight to Milan.  Send your most positive thoughts our way, please.  The bones of our trip are posted in the left column.